Under a buyer representation agreement, what is the agent's primary duty to their client?
Correct Answer
B) To serve the buyer's best interests loyally and confidentially
A buyer's agent has a fiduciary duty to act in their client's best interests, which includes loyalty, confidentiality, disclosure, obedience to lawful instructions, and reasonable care and skill. This relationship is formalized through a buyer representation agreement.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option B correctly identifies the agent's primary fiduciary duty under Canadian real estate legislation. The buyer representation agreement creates a formal agency relationship requiring the agent to act in the buyer's best interests with unwavering loyalty and confidentiality. This duty is codified in provincial acts like TRESA (Ontario) and RESA (Alberta), which mandate that registrants must serve their clients' interests first. The fiduciary relationship encompasses loyalty, confidentiality, disclosure, obedience to lawful instructions, and reasonable care and skill - all components of acting in the client's best interests.
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- → A buyer's lawyer requests a status certificate and pays the fee on May 1. The corporation never delivers it. After closing, the corporation claims the seller owed $3,000 in common expense arrears and demands it from the buyer, who relied on the silence. What is the effect under s. 76 of the Condominium Act, 1998?
- → A status certificate delivered to a buyer omits a $4,000 special assessment that the board levied against the unit after the current budget date to increase the reserve fund. The buyer relied on the certificate and closed. Under the Condominium Act, 1998, what is the result?
- → A seller's salesperson is estimating the buyer's costs of reviewing an Ontario condominium unit's status certificate. What is the most the corporation may charge for providing the certificate?
- → A listing salesperson expects offers next week on a resale condominium unit and knows buyers will want the status certificate. By when must the corporation give a status certificate once it is requested?
- → An investor buyer wants to know how many units in a condominium building were rented last year before making an offer. Which document must state the number of units for which the corporation received lease notices during the preceding fiscal year?
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- → A buyer reviewing a status certificate asks what the condominium's reserve fund may be spent on. Under the Condominium Act, 1998, what is the permitted purpose?
- → An established Ontario condominium corporation completed its most recent reserve fund study in 2024. Under O. Reg. 48/01, when must it complete its next reserve fund study?
- → A buyer's status certificate shows that the corporation received a new reserve fund study two months ago, and the board has not yet sent owners anything about it. What does the Condominium Act, 1998 require of the board?
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A buyer is purchasing a resale condominium unit in Alberta from its current owner. Under the Condominium Property Act, how does the buyer obtain the corporation's prescribed information and documents?